Candidate for Ohio's top job blew this pick

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald would like to be governor, but his first major campaign decision is terribly flawed.

Of all the Democratic politicians in the state to choose as his running mate, FitzGerald picked one who not only owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal taxes, but has been less than transparent in publicly detailing those debts.

When state Sen. Eric Kearney of Cincinnati was announced as FitzGerald's pick for lieutenant governor, the campaign acknowledged that Kearney and his wife, Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, owe $84,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.

It didn't mention that he also owes the state of Ohio - for which Kearney would like to be the No. 2 executive, influencing tax policy among other things - more than $85,000?.

Even if there are more tax revelations in store about Kearney, the public already knows what it needs to know about his business acumen and managerial skill: He racked up major tax debt and blames it on former business associates.

His credibility suffers even more when he attempts to dodge responsibility for the media company that owes much of the tax debt, Sesh Communications?.

What makes this spectacle especially damaging is that Democrats have spent months pounding on state GOP Chairman Matt Borges for his tax debt to the IRS?.

The only thing less confidence-inspiring than Kearney's handling of this embarrassment is FitzGerald's poor judgment in choosing to share the ticket with him.

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Candidate for Ohio's top job blew this pick

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald would like to be governor, but his first major campaign decision is terribly flawed.